by Sarah Thomack
St. Joseph Post
The St. Joseph School District will make a decision soon on whether or not students will return the week of April 6th.
Students left for spring break on March 12th with instructional materials and technology in the event of an extended absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Superintendent Doug Van Zyl says they will make the decision soon on whether they will be back the week of April 6th or push the return date.
"Our goal and objective is to be back, if possible, but also we're not going to go against guidelines or recommendations from the health department," Van Zyl tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline. "We'll make that decision fairly soon, we're not going to wait until the day before and make the decision, but we also want to try to have as much information as we can before we make that decision."
Van Zyl says staff worked hard to put together opportunities for students and families to be able to continue their education while at home.
"We're not necessarily asking for a bunch of new learning to take place, but I've got staff members who are using Skype and Zoom... and a bunch of different things to try to connect to students, making phone calls home, going online, using Google Classroom," Van Zyl says. "We're really just asking students and parents to stay involved and what we mean by staying involved may look different from one family to another."
According to Van Zyl, schools will be able to fill out a waiver that will exempt them from having to make up missed days, because school was out due to COVID-19.
Van Zyl adds the biggest thing parents and guardians can do to help during this time at home is to stay safe and healthy.
For updates on how teachers are connecting with students during the closure and more information about the free meal program for students, click here.